Ministry or Malarkey Series (MOM)
I have a “devotional-type” book – Life Letters – that I wrote for a series of life-study lessons for our Women’s Bible Study. It is obviously a MINISTRY book, something that leads people directly (do not pass GO, do not collect $200) to the Bible and the people who fill those living, breathing pages.
I also have a thousand-gazillion-kabillion fiction stories; some written, most still awaiting delivery into the ink-world. But when each of these stories is birthed, it is cover-to-cover MALARKEY. It’s all a pack of lies, fairy tales, imaginary friends, nonexistent places, etc. with a few historical, spiritual or logistical truths thrown in to give it credibility.
So. The question of the hour…. Can Malarkey be Ministry?
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I write Fiction.
In particular, I write Inspirational Fiction. Or is it Christian Fiction?
Actually, it’s Inspirational Christian Fiction for Women.
But wait. I write about romance so shouldn’t I call it Romantic Fiction? Or Christian Romance Fiction.
Oh, but the hero and the heroine are married. Nope – doesn’t qualify as romance.
So I write Inspirational Christian Fiction for Women with Elements of Romance.
What? There’s also suspense? Ergh.
How about Inspirational Christian Suspense Fiction for Women with Elements of Romance?
A few more details: It’s Amish and it takes place on a ranch and there’s some paranormal time-traveling that takes the heroine from the modern day to the Renaissance period and back again.
Inspirational Christian Paranormal Suspense Historical Amish Western Fiction for Women with Elements of Contemporary Romance.
WHAT!?!
Okay. Here’s what I have determined about Inspirational Fiction. (Disclaimer: I’m not a librarian. I’m not an editor. I’m not an agent or a publisher. But I AM a writer who needs to know how to present my written words to all of the “gatekeepers” listed above.)
Inspirational Fiction is fiction that inspires or motivates by highlighting characters who overcome various forms of adversity, regardless of faith, religion, time period, sub-genre, or species. Whew! See that wasn’t so hard, was it?
But when qualifying my own writing, I need to be more specific for the gatekeepers who will send my books out into the world; the librarians, the editors, the agents, and the publishers.
Okay.
I write Inspirational Christian (or Faith-based) Fiction. I write stories (Fiction) about characters who overcome adversity (Inspirational) by choosing to believe in the One Source of Hope, Jesus Christ (Christian). This is the categorical genre in which I write.
Each specific book determines the sub-genre: Women’s, Children’s, Contemporary, Historical, Western, Amish, Romance, Paranormal, Dystopian….
Examples:
A book about a woman hiding in an Amish community after leaving her abusive husband in the year 2010 would be classified as Contemporary Suspense Fiction for Women with Elements of Romance.
A book about a 16-year-old Scottish girl who runs away from the orphanage and slips through time in a circle of standing stones, who is then rescued by a young monk questioning his faith who believes that she is an angel sent to guide him… something she begins to believe herself… might be classified as Paranormal Fiction with Historical Elements.
A book about a fifty-five-year-old woman who looses her husband, her best friend, and then her job, all within a period of six months, who sells everything and buys a motorcycle and goes on the road of self-discovery, who joins up with a Christian Biker Gang along the way and finds love, friendship, and a new lease on life, might be classified as Contemporary Romantic Comedy.
See what I mean? It all qualifies as “Inspirational Fiction” in that it inspires hope in the readers by instilling hope in the characters within the fiction.
However…NEWSFLASH!
What I’m discovering along this journey to publication is that the specific genre is no longer quite as important as KNOWING WHO MY AUDIENCE IS. For whom am I writing? Who will read AND appreciate what I’m writing? Who will be inspired and whose faith will grow by reading my Inspirational Faith-based Fiction? The gatekeepers want to know if anyone will read (translate=buy) my book.
The fact that there is a genre for EVERYTHING under the sun and my book can be wedged into a specific category or two doesn’t qualify a book as a success; the ability to reach, attract, develop, and increase a loyal reader following is what qualifies a book as a success.
Who cares if I’ve written an Inspirational Christian Paranormal Suspense Historical Amish Western Fiction for Women with Elements of Contemporary Romance?
It doesn’t matter what it IS, it matters what it DOES.
In the same token, if I am an Inspirational Christian Fiction Writer, then I better write faith-based fiction that inspires.
It doesn’t matter what I AM, it matters what I DO.
So I must ask myself:
- Do I write fiction that simply inspires people to do better, think higher, and be kinder? Or do I write fiction that inspires my readers to pursue Jesus Christ and the hope that He offers?
- Do I write to “convert” my readers to my way of thinking, my personal beliefs? Or do I write to proclaim the freedom that I’ve found in Jesus Christ, inspiring and motivating my readers to discover that freedom for themselves? Yes, there is a difference!
Here are some great – and far more detailed – Inspirational Fiction Definitions and Explanations:
Girls With Pens: These girls, Marcy Kennedy and Lisa Hall-Wilson each have individual websites of their own, but this post from their co-hosted site is a great breakdown on Inspirational Fiction with an emphasis on Christian Fiction. They also explore other genres as well. Good stuff.
Photo courtesy of Mike Duran
Decompose: Mike Duran writes a thought-provoking post on The Dangers of Inspirational Fiction, specifically geared toward those of us who are believers. It’s about the slippery slope of compromise and fence-sitting, those “shades of grey” of which we must be wary. Excellent post about TRUTH.
And then there’s “Edgy Inspy” or Edgy Inspirational Romance!
Photo courtesy of Deeanne Gist
What is ‘Edgy Inspirational’? In her post, Inspirational Christian Fiction author Deeanne Gist addresses the controversies surrounding Christian Fiction. “CBA (Christian Bookseller Association) Fiction has unstated rules of form and content. (No swearing, drinking, sleeping around, or getting divorced. A conversion in the third act is preferable.) CBA Fiction faces ridicule because these rules open the novels and novelists up to accusations of being cliched. Unfortunately, these accusations are often quite valid. Too many novels coming out in the CBA market are ignoring the world outside for a glossy, sterilized reality where the promise of a happy ending sugarcoats everything.” She also includes links to some of the keynote addresses at the 2005 and 2006 Christy Award Ceremonies addressing this same issue.
Do you read Inspirational Fiction? Who are some of your favorite Inspy Authors?
Great post, and so important to nail down the specific category you write in! I write about romance AFTER marriage, too–the best kind, I’d say! But my genre (for now) is historical fiction.
I once got a rejection from a Christian Romance agent that cryptically said, “The main characters are married. Therefore this is not romance. Not interested.” That hurt. I defensively posted a complaint on another agent’s blog about married leads being the ultimate in romance and that agent told me that I should be grateful that I got a personal response at all and that I should really learn more about the “industry definition” of the different genres rather than what I think they are. That’s when she also said not to take it personally. And she said that even more importantly, I need to be able to define my readership. Well, that made sense to me, and once my feelings settled, I was able to grasp that it wasn’t my job to tell, it was my job to listen and learn. Humility. Ugh.
Thanks for stopping in, Heather!
Oh! I hate that. I have a married couple novel called Dark Summer. I’m working on edits and revisions. I LOVE MARRIED COUPLES!
I can’t wait to either sell that one or publish it myself.
Yeah – that didn’t sit well with me since I think that the right kind of marriage actually DEFINES romance….
But I quickly realized that I need to find someone who IS interested in my books rather than trying to defend myself against someone who isn’t. Lesson learned.
Hm. Dark Summer. Sounds delicious.
I’ve always been somewhat begrudging of the label “inspirational” fiction, as if mainstream is somehow NOT inspired or inspiring. But, it’s just a label, so I worked out of that grudge. When it comes right down to it, I’ve found I can’t sub to the inspirational market because of the required conversion element. Perhaps things have changed in the years since I first researched it, but at that time, that seemed to be important. My stories portray Christian people…
I 100% agree about nailing your audience AND recognizing WHAT you write. It really helps for submitting.
Bethanne,
Thought you might appreciate this:
~ Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the co-founder of the Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana and a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). Multi-published in fiction and nonfiction, her writing has been tagged as “Inspirational with an Edge!” and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.”
Here’s some of what she has to say about Inspirational Fiction: “Inspirational fiction, is written more for those readers out there who are dissatisfied with the typical Christian fiction as well as those turned off by the normal secular romances. It is aimed for readers that like the idea of God/Christ in the books, but want more realistic characters, situations, etc. Though flavored with a bit more “sensuality and gritty realism,” Inspirational fiction still adheres to biblical principles. It is a unique combination of the sensual and the spiritual. Almost anything goes in Inspirational fiction as long as it is done tastefully. If you’re putting sex, profanity, or abuse in there simply for shock purposes, stick to secular fiction. Readers of Inspirational fiction want reality not morbidity!”
Here’s another link to an author who has really explored this idea:
http://nancykimball.blogspot.com/2011/04/christian-vs-inspirational-fiction.html
Lots of talk out there on this subject – just need to find the right place for me, you know? And that means not trying to please everyone else or squeeze into everyone else’s boxes. It means doing what I’m doing THEN finding the box that fits me the best.
Thanks for your comments – good stuff, Bethanne.
For sure! You must please God and yourself. Write from your heart whether that ends up being christian or inspiration. I think the labeling difference must be a new development as people try to broaden the market for those books. For as long as I’ve known, Christian and Inspirational fiction have been the same thing. Inspirational used instead of Christian I imagine, because people shy away from anything labeled Christian.
I will admit to you, who is doing this great identity search and malarkey-ministry research, that in the last year or so, I’ve done my own bit of research. I’m only 35, so I’m not that old, but I’ve been involved with the christian market for a long time. Growing up, I was only allowed to listen to Christian music and read Christian/Inspirational fiction. Well, I take that back. As a very young girl, I loved reading Trixie Belden and my parents could often be found listening to music from their era that wasn’t Christian. That aside, I was satisfied reading most of the Christian fiction. One of my all-time favorite series is still The Zion Chronicles by Brock and Bodie Thoene. If you haven’t read them, you must. They also wrote The Zion Covenant, which actually takes place chronologically BEFORE the Chronicles books. The inspired my love of vintage/WW2 history and fiction. They wrote what these women you mention are “trying” to do all over again, write “edgy” inspirational fiction. The mystery of the Rose is another series that is fabulous and set in the same time period.
Here, my frustration lies. It seems to me a large part of Christian fiction is set during early American times, prairie days. The books I’ve read of modern day inspirational fiction don’t seem real to me. But, I don’t like historical. I was impressed by Ms. Gist and her writings and her motivation and even her goals for the market as a whole. But then I visited her bookshelf, and I was like…really? You write historical? Why am I not surprised? I can’t accuse any single writer of writing Christian fiction, set in that era, of writing in that era because it’s easier. I can’t. But sometimes, it sure does seem that way to me. A time when family values and religion were strongly enforced. Perhaps it is easier to write Inspirational in that setting. I don’t know. I am disappointed.
In modern set books, I see Inspirational trying to mimic mainstream, trying to fill the gap. It falls short more often than not. It wants to prove that it is ‘normal’ or ‘real’. Why can’t it just be? I agree with Lisa Hall-Wilson, people are self-publishing. I would rather self-publish my work than be bound by lines or limitations. One of my most jaw-dropping discoveries, years ago, was when I realized my characters could not be Catholic. Write Inspirational, but keep your faith hidden. That was the message I got from publishers like Bethany. I’ve written several novels… most of which have at least one Catholic character who goes to church every Sunday, who lights candles, prays rosaries, goes to confession and otherwise, finds peace within the sacraments. Isn’t that real life, whether you’re Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran or Episcopalian? I am more likely to find a Catholic character in a mainstream romance about angels or demons or vampires than I am in an inspirational romance.
oh boy…see! I knew eventually I was going to get on here and talk your ear off.
But Bethanne, this is EXACTLY the kind of comments I hope to stir up! I grew up the same way you did – a missionary kid in an extremely conservative life – and I’m facing the same frustration you are now. I KNOW there must be others out there like us. I personally LOVE Medieval history but loathe some of the historical novels I’ve read because they’re ridiculous. (I was also inspired by B & B Thoene. Adored Michael Crichton’s TIMELINE, btw – the book. The movie was just Hollywood). And I’m not an Amish fan, or a Western fan, or a early 20th Century fan… so that kinda rules out a lot of what is popular right now, doesn’t it? I’ll read just about everything and I’ve tried giving a fair shake to the above, but my heart longs for something… more. Now that I’m seriously writing, I’m finding my voice in the contemporary genre and I’m struggling with the whole “being real or being too real or being not real enough” thing. I think what happens when we pull back on the reigns too much is that we “dummy down” the story – NOT what I want to do. I prefer being left at the bedroom door physically but the physical stuff isn’t the real story, is it? Fine – I won’t have my characters drinking, gambling, having sex, talking dirty… but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to do these things. That doesn’t mean they don’t have temptation to resist. The REALNESS of fiction (especially contemporary!) needs to be what goes on inside the head, not beneath the sheets. That’s really where all of our “realities” are and that’s what we need to capture no matter what genre, what label, what time period. I applaud you for bucking the system and I pray that you find your own way, a way that pleases God and your heart, like you said.
Maybe I’ll try to hone in on this topic next week – the things that make fiction “REAL” to the reader.
Becky, thank you for the “shout-out”. It’s crazy to realize how much I’ve learned about this in a year since when I wrote that post.
One suggestion I would add is to become familiar with the content of recently released titles from the publishers you plan to target with your manuscript. (If you are seeking traditional publication.) It helped me a lot to know my novel wouldn’t stand a chance with some publishers and would be better suited for others. Particularly with category romance and all the Love Inspired imprints, the submission guidelines are generally available on their website. A friend recently had to cut about 1500 words of a bet between two characters because it was gambling and not permissible for that publisher. I understand why publishers protect their guidelines like that because their brand is as important as those of their authors.
I echo Bethanne in that you are absolutely correct in writing your story, and then seeing where it best fits. And while you’re finding the right home, be writing the next one.
On a congruent topic, here is an article I enjoyed over at Novel Rocket about Realistic Christian Behavior you and other blog readers may find interesting.
http://www.novelrocket.com/2012/06/realistic-christian-behavior.html?spref=fb
Write on,
Nancy Kimball
Nancy – Thanks so much for stopping by and for contributing to this “hot topic”. Your suggestion to be familiar with what is being released is so vital – I recently read an article about this and about the importance of understanding projection – whether or not your book will be relevant by the time it actually gets published. There always seems to be more to learn and digest, doesn’t there?
Looking forward to the changes you’re making on your site, Nancy. And had a good time checking out Novel Rocket, too!
Becky, you are correct. There is always more to learn and even then it will change. The life cycle from completed and polished draft of a contracted novel to the buy it now on Amazon with a traditional publisher is not uncommon to be over a year even for an established author. There is a danger in trying to hit a moving target of what is “hot” in commercial fiction. Example, an agent recently told me civil war is what is contracting best in historical right now. When I begin my new manuscript in a few weeks, it will not be a civil war era novel. By the time I complete the draft, get it through critique and a few literary contests to test its mettle, it wouldn’t be ready for at least a year, and by then something else will be what is hot.
Being familiar with recently released titles of a particular publisher will help you to discern which would be candidates for your work, particularly if you are going to submit directly to the acquisition editors. (I have found most no longer accept unagented submissions however.) The benefit of understanding what the home for your work might be when pitching to an agent, is to show that agent you have done your homework.
An example is my first manuscript. The middle portions of the novel when my hero is enduring life as a Roman gladiator are extremely violent and it is a gritty and accurate portrayal of the carnage of that time period. That work is too graphic for Bethany House or Tyndale in my opinion and better suited for Zondervan or B&H whose recent releases indicate a stronger willingness to publish very gritty and intense material.
*I want to be clear however that Bethany House and Tyndale aren’t looking for less realism, I’ve just found they prefer it shown a different way. If I were going to write for them, I would show my hero looking out over a battlefield and silently weeping for his fallen brothers behind his blood-stained hands. Whereas I prefer to put my hero on his knees, trying to hold his best friend’s insides together while his tears mix with the blood on his face as spears fly all around him, Zondervan or B&H is a better fit for me.
You can find your fit. If you want to have more chances and greater odds at finding your fit, then you need to study what makes commercial fiction different from just fiction and why first manuscripts get rejected so often. There is actually a great post in Seekerville about that today.
http://seekerville.blogspot.com/
Thanks so much for linking back to Girls With Pens. Christian fiction has taken a lot of hits lately and it’s led to a lot of self-published novels and even the startup publisher Marcher Lord Press. MLP only takes speculative, fantasy and sci-fi but it’s a step in the right direction IMO.
Lisa,
Glad you stopped by. Yes, it seems to me that as the waters get muddier, it’s easier to lose footing in the fiction world. I mean that spiritually but also literally, too. We tend to try to “become” some enigmatic category so that we can fit a description rather than writing our stories first and then figuring out what best defines the story. I believe the gatekeepers are vitally important for helping us stay on track but we live in an age where we need to WRITE FIRST, then figure out which road to travel along, with MS in hand. If you’ve got a great story, someone out there will see it as a perfect fit. If you don’t have a story, great or otherwise, then it doesn’t matter what you THINK you’re writing, does it? It’s kinda like Aesop’s fable about the man, the boy, and their donkey – trying to force a fit doesn’t work very well for anyone.
I’m rambling, aren’t I? Enjoying getting to know you through your posts!
Such thought provoking questions and answers! I read inspirational and I write it, too. My favorite authors right now are Laura Frantz, Francine Rivers, Lynn Austin and Deeanne Gist. I love historicals – pretty much from any time period before 1950.
I’ll be digesting your comments here today for a while! Thanks for the post.
Gabrielle – great authors you’ve listed, right up my alley, too. Thanks for your encouragment – sometimes it feels like blogs should be called “blah-blah-blahgs” to me but when I get such great interaction, I’m thrilled. I know this is one of those hot topics, too, and those are always fun to post about!
I don’t read a lot of what would technically be called “Christian Inspirational fiction” or even “inspirational fiction” but, regardless, these are some really great things to think about with all genres.
And I love your “must ask yourself” questions. Looking forward to the next post!
Hey Lauren…I’m thinking about doing a top ten (or twenty or however many I end up with) list of Questions I Must Ask Myself….. By the end of this I’m going to have a lot of them, you know? Maybe I’ll read through and pick the best 10. Hmmmmmm.